How to Feed Dairy Goats Properly: Hay, Minerals, and Grain

Feeding dairy goats is an essential part of ensuring their health, well-being, and milk production. A balanced diet is key to maintaining strong goats that can produce high-quality milk. Proper hay, minerals, and grain are the pillars of their diet, each contributing to the goats’ nutritional needs. Understanding the right way to feed your dairy goats will help you raise productive and healthy animals.

1. What kind of hay should I feed?

Hay is the cornerstone of a dairy goat’s diet, providing the necessary fiber to promote proper digestion and keep the goat’s rumen functioning effectively.

Goats are ruminants, meaning they need roughage to stimulate their rumen, which ferments food and extracts nutrients.

In general, we feed 3rd or 4th cutting alfalfa along with a nice grass hay. We give our does and kids more alfalfa than we give our bucks. My list of hay is by no means exhaustive, I’m only mentioning the ones that I am somewhat familiar with because of my location.

Here are some examples of great options for your goats:

• Alfalfa Hay: This is our first choice for our milking does, and for growing kids. Alfalfa is rich in protein, calcium, and other nutrients essential for milk production and growth. You will find a lot of information cautioning against feeding alfalfa to bucks and wethers, but we find it to be excellent hay for all of our herd, including the males.
• Teff Hay: Modestly high in protien (12-14%), if cut before the seedheads begin to develop. Be sure to ask your hay producer when they cut the hay. The teff we use is a soft, green grassy hay that is highly palatible and our goats do quite well on it alongside alfalfa.
• Bromegrass hay:Properly harvested brome is a wonderful grass hay to feed, but in our locality it is difficult to find brome that was cut at the proper time. Brome becomes very stemmy and rapidly loses it’s nutrional value when harvested later than early bloom. In my experience farmers tend to cut it as much as a month or two later than it’s prime time. Highly palatable and very good protien content IF you can find the good stuff.
• Orchard Grass: Another prime grass hay when put up correctly. Many dairy farmers favor orchard grass above any of the other grass hays. You will often find it mixed with alfalfa for a highly palatable and nutritious option for your goats.

How and When to feed hay?

• We keep hay in front of our goats at all times, unless they have free range of the pasture during the summer.
• Check your hay quality — mold can be very dangerous to goats. Don’t feed moldy hay to your goats. Obviously if your hay is getting wet, it will start to mold.
• I think my most important tip for hay and goats is this: Goats are extremely picky and will not eat stemmy hay. They will waste it and in so doing, waste your money. Find a good hay source. Shop around, ask to look at the hay. Sniff the hay. You don’t want to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on hay your goats won’t eat.

2. MINERALS!

Goats absolutely cannot thrive without proper mineral supplementation. You need to buy goat minerals before you buy your goats.

Minerals are essential for a goat’s overall health and their ability to produce milk. Goats need a balanced supply of essential minerals, including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and salt, to maintain good bone health, reproductive success, and high-quality milk production. Minerals keep your goats’ milk tasting sweet and fresh.

Things to consider when buying a mineral:

• Calcium and Phosphorus: These two minerals work together to maintain healthy bones and teeth. The correct calcium-to-phosphorus ratio is 2:1, with more calcium than phosphorus. A deficiency or imbalance can lead to metabolic disorders like milk fever or urinary calculi.
• Trace Minerals: Goats also need trace minerals like copper, zinc, and selenium. These are vital for immunity, fertility, and hair and hoof health. Many commercial goat mineral mixes are formulated to meet these needs.
• Brands to Consider: Sweelix, Duraferm and Purina all make very good goat mineral mixes. If you can’t find these, consider asking your feed mill or local farm supply store if they can order one of them in. We have had good luck with all three of these options, and as of 2025 are using Duraferm minerals. Our local farm supply store also carries Kent goat minerals which I offer alongside the Duraferm minerals since it is a good bit cheaper.

How to Provide Minerals:

• Provide a free-choice mineral mix specifically formulated for goats. If you are familiar with proper ratios that should be in a mineral mix, you may find some cattle minerals that do the trick.
• Offer loose minerals rather than a mineral block, as goats may find it easier to consume the necessary amount.
• Keep the mineral feeder replenished. Goats go through minerals more quickly than you might think.

3. Grain for Dairy Goats

Grain is a supplementary food for dairy goats, particularly for does in milk, growing kids, or goats that require additional energy. While hay provides fiber, grain adds the necessary carbohydrates and protein for milk production and growth.

When to Feed Grain:

• Lactating Does: Does producing milk need a higher energy and protein intake. Giving your milking does a formulated dairy goat feed is in your best interest as a dairy farmer. We use a 16% dairy goat ration. If you are not feeding high protien alfalfa, I would recommend a higher protien dairy goat ration such as 18 to 20%.
• Pregnant Does: Pregnant does, particularly in their last trimester, benefit from a small amount of grain to support fetal growth and meet the demands of lactation once kidding occurs. We increase grain to our pregnant does a few weeks before their due date. I do this based on body condition and age of the doe. Sometimes they may need grain their entire pregnancy, some may not need it at all.
• Growing Kids: Kids should be gradually introduced to grain at an early age. Grain helps them grow strong and develop muscle mass. DO NOT skimp on grain for growing kids. In my opion, they absolutely need grain ration and will not grow as well without it with exception of kids that have access to prime pasture or very nice alfalfa hay free choice. Our kids get the same dairy ration as our milking does.
• Mature Goats Not in Milk: For healthy adult goats that are not in milk, or pregnant, grain is not generally needed, as it can contribute to obesity and lead to health issues. This is a broad generalization and another area where you need to know your goat and pay attention to body condition.
• Wethers: We want our wethers to grow, either for sending to sale barn to be marketed for meat, or for our own freezer. Therefore we feed them grain. BUT! If I had pet wethers I would use a great deal of caution when offering grain to avoid health issues for them. I do not have experience raising wethers as pets although we absolutly love when we have customers who do so. 🙂
• Bucks: Buck are tricky. They often get overlooked on the farm, and over the years I have changed how I care for them. I believe they need grain 75% of the year in our local climate here in Nebraska: during rut and bad weather. They get the same ration as my does. For a few months in spring and early summer, I do not offer them grain.

Best Practices for Grain Feeding:

• Feed grain in measured amounts to avoid overfeeding. Overfeeding can lead to obesity, digestive issues, and other metabolic problems. Goats will literally eat themselves to death if given the chance.
• We grain our goats in the mornings or evenings at milking time. Wethers, bucks, kids, and does all get grain on our farm. Milking does get their grain on the stand. This is a huge incentive for them to be ready and willing to be milked.
• Goats that do not get grain: Healthy bucks in great body condition during spring and summer. Healthy does in prime condition who are not in milk.

4. It’s Not All About Hay, Minerals and Grain!

• Fresh Water: Goats need access to clean, fresh water at all times. Milk production especially requires increased water intake, so it’s important to ensure they have enough water to drink. Bucks need fresh water at all times.
• Monitor Body Condition: Regularly check your goats for signs of good body condition. Overfeeding grain can lead to obesity, while underfeeding may cause weight loss or poor milk production. Adjust feed amounts as needed. You must put your hands on your goats to properly check body condition. Here is a great video on Body Condition Scoring
• Observe for Signs of Deficiency: If you notice signs such as poor coat condition, weak hooves, decreased milk production, or lethargy, consult with a veterinarian or fellow goat breeders to adjust the diet or check for mineral deficiencies. Often these issues are caused by external or internal parasites.

If you took the time to read all of that I applaud you. After putting this article together, I realize I just barely scratched the surface of caring for goats. I hope to add more articles and information as I am able.

Enjoy your goat!